The National Football League announced today the names of 56 players who have been granted special eligibility for the 2011 NFL Draft on April 28-30 at Radio City Music Hall in New York. Here is the league’s official release.
The NFL Draft will start in primetime for the second consecutive year. The first round will be held on Thursday, April 28. The second and third rounds are set for Friday, April 29. Rounds 4-7 will be held on Saturday, April 30. The entire NFL Draft will be televised by NFL Network and ESPN.

Each of the 56 players has met the league’s three-year eligibility rule and each has submitted a written application in which he renounced his remaining college football eligibility. The deadline for receiving applications was January 15.

The players granted special eligibility for the NFL Draft the past 10 years:

Record 56 players leave college early for NFL drafthttp://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com...for-nfl-draft/
Posted by Michael David Smith on January 19, 2011, 1:45 PM EST
The NFL announced today that 56 players — the most ever — have renounced their remaining college eligibility and entered this year’s draft.

The list includes three quarterbacks: Missouri’s Blaine Gabbert, Auburn’s Cam Newton and Arkansas’s Ryan Mallett. All three have the potential to be high first-round picks.

Most underclassmen ever in draft ... The NFL has released the official list of underclassmen eligible for the 2011 draft which includes a record 56 names. The previous high for underclassmen declaring for the draft was 53 in both 2008 and 2010. This year's list includes the 52 players we had on our list, as well as WR Greg Little and DT Marvin Austin of North Carolina who would have been seniors this past sason but still technicallyhave a year of eligibility left because they were both suspended for the entire 2010 season for accepting improper benefits. The final list also includes two players - Fresno State WR Jamel Hamler and Oregon FS Javes Lewis - who had applied for the draft but had not made any formal announcement, although neither is more than marginal prospect. Here is the full list of 54 juniors eligible for the 2010 draft. http://www.gbnreport.com/juniors.htmwww.gbnreport.com